Free Sorceress Awakening by Lisa Blackwood

him
while the other blanketed him like a cloak of shadows. His head rested pillowed
on his bicep, and one arm still reached out to where she’d been tucked against
him. His fingers, with their two-inch claws, were uncurled, relaxed in sleep.
If he’d had a nightmare, he could have gutted her. Her eyes travelled the
length of him again. While he wasn’t human, he was certainly male.
Overprotective guardian non-withstanding, he’d be finding himself different
sleeping arrangements very soon.
    Without conscious thought, her fingers
found his hand and touched the black, curving claws. She really should be
running away, she reminded herself. Instead she sat on the edge of the bed and
explored the gargoyle.
    Oddly, she could deal with the strangeness
of the gargoyle better than seeing her family in their new roles. Or seeing a
man she’d known all her life turn into a unicorn. Like something out of a
fevered dream. Abnormal. Surreal and completely creepy.
    That the gargoyle seemed the most normal
part of her life didn’t bode well at all.
    She stroked his mane for several minutes.
Calm returned, followed by clearer thoughts. With a confidence she didn’t know
she possessed, she sat on the bed and investigated the spiky ridge of fur
between his horns. If she thought she could get away with it, she would have
tried to brush his mane for him, but the motion might wake him, and she rather
liked watching the gargoyle sleep. She wasn’t sure why or how, but he was a
natural part of her existence. Like air and food and water, her gargoyle had
transformed into a component she needed to live.
    From downstairs, the distant beep of the
kitchen timer reached her ears. At the noise, the gargoyle made a huffing sound
as he buried his muzzle under the edge of her robe until his entire head
vanished beneath a fold of the dark-green fabric. His horns and ears stuck out
and she started to laugh.
    “No, I stand corrected. You’re not
cat-like. You’re more dog-like.” His ears twitched at the sound of her voice,
but he still didn’t wake up. Instead, he’d burrowed further under her and
threatened to push her off the side of the bed. “Definitely dog. I don’t
suppose I can teach you to fetch breakfast? Oh, well. At least . . .”
    Her next words froze, forgotten on her
tongue. Angry voices drifted in through her window. She tensed as they came
closer. The gargoyle exhaled a grunted exclamation and in one beat of her
pounding heart, he was fully awake. His powerful tail snaked out and reached
around her shoulders. That heavy, unstoppable weight forced her forward and
down until she was sprawled flat on the bed, the gargoyle poised over her. Then
he leaped from the bed, tearing sheets and dislodging the top mattress with the
strength of his lunge.
    The sudden jolt rolled her like a limp doll
and she was facing the window in time to see him clear the distance in one
bound. He landed on all fours, his tail lashing back and forth. He made no
noise as he reared up onto two legs and braced his arms on either side of the
window while he watched the goings on below. She inched closer to his side.
Voices drifted up. Two strangers debated with her Uncle Alan.
    “What are you hiding? We can smell it from
out here.” A man’s voice echoed up from below.
    Lillian nudged the gargoyle until he let
her look out the window. Below, two men faced off against her uncle. One of
them, the older man with the graying hair, looked vaguely familiar. It took her
a moment to realize why. When Gregory bunched his muscles, preparing to leap
down, she put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
    “Wait,” she hissed. “I know these people.
Please don’t get all fierce on them. They’re friends of the family. The younger
one’s name is Robert, and the older man is his grandfather, Jackson.”
    Jackson tilted his head to the side,
sniffing at the air. “Tell me what you’re hiding. It smells of power and
aggression.”
    “We have a new ally. Vivian will